A young Larbert Girlguiding Scotland member joined a group of Girlguiding gamechangers to celebrate achieving Girlguiding’s highest award, the Queen’s Guide Award, on Monday 13 April 2015 with No More Page 3 campaigner Lucy-Anne Holmes.

Rebecca Wilson, 24, from Larbert joined the celebration at the House of Commons where she was given the Award by Chief Guide Gill Slocombe and the prominent feminist campaigner Lucy-Anne Holmes.

Rebecca took three years to complete the tough Queen’s Guide Award, a personal collection of challenges which must be completed before a young woman turns 26. As well as presenting awards, campaigner and founder of the No More Page 3 campaign Lucy Anne Holmes gave a speech about the amazing dedication of the trailblazing Queen’s Guides.

Rebecca, who is an Aero-Mechanical Engineering, selected personal challenges in fields including volunteering, social action, developing new skills and travelling to a new place. Rebecca’s personal challenges included working as part of the leadership team on a Girlguiding Scotland trip to Denmark, completing a 4 day expedition through the Cairngorm National Park, entering her first three piece artistic gymnastics competition and volunteering at Stenhousemuir Primary.

The Queen’s Guide Award is the highest award achievable in Girlguiding. It revolves around setting your own challenges at your own pace, and helps young women get skills for life and work.

Rebecca, who’s a Leader with Stenhousemuir Senior Section group, said: “Working on my Queen’s Guide Award have been both challenging and rewarding.

“The part of my award that I am most proud of is challenging myself to get back into gymnastics after a break of more than four years.

“This was physically and mentally demanding but it was massively rewarding to learn both old and new skills while making new friends at my club.”

“I’m really proud of Rebecca and other Scottish Queen’s Guides – they are hugely inspirational young women who have achieved the Queen’s Guide Award by challenging themselves and giving up their time to help their local community.

“The Queen’s Guide Award shows young women that they have the potential to take on any challenge the world throws at them, become tomorrow’s leaders and become a powerful force for good.”

“The No More Page 3 campaign received such strong support from Girlguiding, and working together was fantastic. When I started No More Page 3 it became immediately obvious that there are people out there who embody the positive change that they want to see in the world. And the Queen’s Guides are just that.

“These inspirational volunteers give up their time to work with young people and have taken on the challenge of a lifetime to get their Queen’s Guide Award. I want to say massive congratulations to all of them.”

ENDS

Attached is an image of Rebecca Wilson with No More Page 3 campaigner Lucy-Anne Holmes

Queen’s Guide Award

The Queen’s Guide Award is the highest award in Girlguiding. It is a personal challenge with emphasis on gaining valuable skills, volunteering and taking action for positive change.

The award is for Girlguiding members aged 16-25 and takes one to three years to complete.

Around one hundred young women become Queen’s Guides each year.

Girlguiding and the No More Page 3 campaign

Girlguiding signed the No More Page 3 petition in 2013, after asking members aged 16-25 if Girlguiding should support the campaign. 88 per cent of those who responded said yes. Since then, Girlguiding members have spoken out tirelessly against sexism in the media, most recently for the Girls Matter campaign.

Girlguiding Scotland is Scotland’s leading charity for girls and young women with more than 60,000 members. We are part of a worldwide movement which enables girls and young women to fulfil their potential and take an active and responsible role in society. Girlguiding opens up a world of exciting opportunities for girls and young women across Scotland. Girls can take part in a wide range of activities from adventure sports to camps, international trips, science projects and community action. Find out more @GirlguidingScot, www.facebook.com/GirlguidingScot or www.girlguidingscotland.org.uk.

Girlguiding is the leading charity for girls and young women in the UK, with 553,633 members. Thanks to the dedication and support of 100,000 amazing volunteers, we are active in every part of the UK, giving girls and young women a space where they can be themselves, have fun, build brilliant friendships, gain valuable life skills and make a positive difference to their lives and their communities. We build girls’ confidence and raise their aspirations. We give them the chance to discover their full potential and encourage them to be a powerful force for good. We give them a space to have fun. We run Rainbows (5–7 years), Brownies (7–10 years), Guides (10–14 years) and The Senior Section (14–25 years). Registered Charity No. 306016. www.girlguiding.org.uk.